The richest tournament of the whole PGA Tour goes to Scottie Scheffler who, while he’s at it, takes back the first place in the world ranking. For Scheffler, The Players is the sixth title of his career on the most important circuit in the world.
Small detail: Scottie has won six of the last 27 games played on the PGA. At Ponte Vedra Beach, the 26-year-old from Ridgewood dominated the scene by imposing himself with a total of 271 shots (68 69 65 69, -17), five shots ahead of Tyrrell Hatton, with 276 (-12) ahead of Viktor Hovland, third with 278 slugging percentage (-10) tied with Tom Hoge.
Fifth with 279 strokes the Japanese Hideki Matsuyama.
Scottie Scheffler, statements
At the TPC Sawgrass (Stadium Course, par 72) final to forget for Francesco Molinari, only 60th with 288 (73 71 68 76, par) after a complicated last round.
After last February’s feat at the Phoenix Open, Scheffler celebrated his second title of 2023 by becoming the ninth player to have won The Players and The Masters. Now third in the FedEx Cup standings, he took advantage of the forfeit of Jon Rahm (forced to withdraw from the competition before starting the second round due to an intestinal virus) and the debacle of Rory Mcilroy (out in the cut) to return to first place in the world ranking.
“I like playing under pressure and when things get tough, I get excited. I’m proud, winning is never easy but the goal is always to do better” said Scheffler. Which took center stage at The Players 2023, a show tournament featuring three hole-in-ones.
The last, in the final round, brought the signature of Alex Smalley (65th, +1), author of an ace on the 17th hole (par 3). The PGA Tour became its own organization in 1968, when it split from the PGA of America, which is now primarily an association of golf professionals, such as instructors and club managers.
Tournament players first formed their own organization, the Association of Professional Golfers (APG). Later, in 1968, the players abolished the APG and agreed to operate as the PGA “Tournament Players Division”, a fully autonomous division of the PGA, overseen by a new 10-member Tournament Policy Board.
